I write things here that interest or amuse me, and that I think are worth sharing. They might be topical, or 'cold case', educational or trivial; the only rule is that they will have something to do with genealogy. You can contact me at thefamilyrecorder@rocketmail.com

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Friday, 28 January 2011

Countdown to Rootstech - two weeks to go.

I reserved my place at the Rootstech conference as soon as the booking opened. The event will take place in the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City 10-12 February. Frankly, I'd been looking for a good excuse to go back to Salt Lake City after my first visit in April last year, for the NGS conference. I want to have another crack at that library, for one thing. There are a few things I didn't quite have time for last time! But the main attraction is the Rootstech conference itself.

Rootstech is a new kind of conference, bringing together technology users and technology creators in the world of genealogy. I have been told that the conference is going to be very well-attended and will be very interesting to see how it turns out. One of the things that struck me at the NGS conference in April was the abundance of new technology, both in terms of hardware and software; in fact there was an entire technology hall in the exhibit area. At Rootstech the Expo Hall has the usual exhibitor booths, a Demo Area, a cyber cafe and some interesting new features - FamilySearch Digital Pipeline, Bloggers World and, most intriguing of all 'Rootstech Playground'!

Sixteen of the genealogy world's leading bloggers have been appointed Rootstech Official Bloggers and they will be blogging from the conference. Naturally, there will also be plenty of unofficial blogging going on, and a lot of tweeting, too. If you want to follow the proceedings on Twitter, the conference hashtag will be #Rootstech. The conference also has its own Facebook page. There is nothing quite like attending an event in person, but modern technology and social networking mean that it is possible to participate from a distance, or at least follow what is going on.

Lynda, there are other people who know Salt Lake City much better than I do; but on the strength of my one and only visit last year, I'd recommend a visit to the Joseph Smith building, just a short walk from the Library. There are places to eat there, including the Garden on the top floor. Even if you don't eat there, it's worth going up to the foyer for the fabulous view over Temple Square.

As far as the Library is concerned, there is lots of help and advice on hand there, so make use of it. They have a schedule of classes, so it's worth looking to see if there are any in your areas of interest while you are there. There is lots of useful information about using the Library at https://library.familysearch.org/centers/saltlakecity-library

About Me

I've been tracing the history of my own family and other people's for over 20 years. It started as a hobby, but I liked it so much it became my job. Following several years of freelancing I have worked for The National Archives (UK) since 2002, currently as Records Specialist - Family History.